I just installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, I am very new to the Ubuntu OS and I would need help with it.
I am trying to install this open source platform called Play Framework, to install it I need to add the installation directory to my system path, the documentation for Play says that I should open a terminal and type export PATH=$PATH:/to/path/play. I have tried this it did not work. I also tried sudo apt-get install play and that did not work either. I am completely lost now, I need help.

In order to get good answers, make sure you provide any details that you have that may help other members solve your problems. For example, please provide a full description of the errors you are getting.

In general, you should be able to fix whatever problem you are having by following the instructions, but make sure you look at the prerequisites. In particular, you need to make sure you have java and javac in your command path.

Note that the /path/to/play in the documentation should be the parent directory containing the play executable (but not including the executable; the example may be a little confusing). So, something like:
/opt/playframework/play-2.2.1/
is what should be added to the PATH in .bashrc.